I wonder if people really think about their purpose in life.
I suppose that people list all kinds of reasons for their purpose in life. I was sitting in Wal-Mart on the bench near the pharmacy. Cynthia was pushing the cart around being sure to get all those essentials we must have been lacking or had depleted (like toothpaste). I was feeling a bit melancholy…quite a bit melancholy. Don’t know why I was feeling that way. I just was. I suppose we all get that way at times (melancholy, I mean). As I sat there, a kid rolled by on those sneakers with the wheels built into the soles. A woman happened by with an expression that revealed she was on a desperate quest for some essential item that would bring completeness to her life (probably toothpaste). A handsome guy who looked like he was from a magazine add strolled past, followed by a woman who was a shoe-in for the add on the next page. A mother walks by with a look of disgust on her face. Not far behind is her little boy whirling and twirling, making sound effects (Bang! Pow! Whap! Bap!). He was obviously playing out his fantasy of being a super hero or crime fighter. Heck! Who knows? In this day and age he could have been pretending to be the villain.
As I scanned the scene passing before my eyes it was if the camera of my mind suddenly panned back to reveal that there were literally dozens upon dozens of folks in the store. I know that they were there for a purpose. They had come to purchase some need or want. However, the thought crossed my mind, how many people here ever think about their purpose in life. Do they think about the fact that life is more than food or drink (or toothpaste)? How many of them have given thought concerning the condition of their soul? How many had come to the realization that, apart from Christ, life is meaningless. Suddenly, I was also reminded of just how meaningless my life would be without Christ.
I thought back about how passionate I became to live for Him; to the extent that I felt I had to leave the path I was pursuing (literally, leave my job and put my family on a tight budget) and go to bible college in order to be trained for ministry. I would be lying if I said there were not times that I second guessed that decision over the years. Thankfully, now, those moments are little more than passing thoughts. Still, when one becomes melancholy and entrenched in deep contemplation, even moments of passing thoughts can seem like hours.
My mother has told me for years that God had a purpose for my life. When I was young He revealed that purpose. I was to serve in the church as a volunteer. When I was dating Cynthia, he revealed that purpose was to take this godly woman to be my wife and for us serve him as one. When we had our first child, I realized that God was telling me my purpose was to be a godly father. When I got older and was on the road to success he revealed that purpose was to change my focus to full-time ministry. In these middle years of my life it seems God’s purpose is for me to pastor a church. The real truth of the matter is, I have come to realize that all the events of my life have been stepping stones to take me to the next level, the next phase, to one step closer to fulfilling God’s purpose for my life.
Honestly, do we ever really know? Can we ever really get our arms around God’s plan and how we fit into it? I think not. It is too lofty for us to comprehend. We must satisfy ourselves with the knowledge that we are, indeed, a part of it. By "it" I mean to say His plan. If, by the grace of God, I finish well and find myself sitting looking out of a window, full of years and eyes growing dim, I will be acknowledging that God’s purpose for my life, at that moment, is to be a wise old man, imparting words of wisdom to some young lad who is wrestling with finding his purpose in life.
There are a lot of Wal-Marts and an awfully lot of people in them. There are a lot of people wandering the isles looking for needs and wants. I pray that the overwhelming majority of them find that they desperately need Jesus and will then allow him to move their lives through the steps that will transform them, ever transform them. Just like he is ever transforming you and me. Until, one day, we shall all be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John. 3:3).
As I sat in Wal-Mart, these were the thoughts that were in my heart and on my mind.
